JP2000245718A - Mental condition evaluating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To precisely evaluate and control mental health by arranging measuring means for respectively measuring a change in an expression, a change in voice and body movement, evaluating a mental condition on the basis of output of the respective measuring means, and announcing the evaluation result. SOLUTION: A CCD camera 4 for picking up the image of a face of a user of a personal computer 1 is arranged above a display 3 of the personal computer 1. An acceleration sensor 6 is installed in a waist part of the user by using a belt installing hook. An expression analyzing part 11, a voice analyzing part 12 and an acceleration analyzing part 13 for respectively analyzing output signals of the CCD camera 4, a microphone 5 and the acceleration sensor 6 are arranged in the personal computer 1. A mental condition of the user is judged by a mental condition judging part 14 on the basis of an analytical result of the respective analyzing parts 11 to 13. For example, when a difference between a picked-up expression image and a reference expression image is not more than a threshold value, it is judged that a metal condition is in a melancholic state to announce the result.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mental state evaluation device for evaluating a mental state based on facial expression, voice, and exercise to detect a depression state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a subject's pulse, respiration, body temperature,
Various devices have been proposed that measure a physiological amount such as blood pressure and evaluate the health condition of a subject based on the measured physiological amount.

[0003] For example, a physiological measurement apparatus for measuring physiological quantities such as pulse, respiration, and body temperature is provided at the bedside, and the output of the physiological measurement apparatus is compared with a preset allowable upper limit value and a lower allowable limit value of a biological signal. There is a device that evaluates the physical condition of a user lying on a bed by doing so. In this device, when the output of the physiological amount measuring device exceeds the allowable upper limit value or falls below the allowable lower limit value, an alarm buzzer informs the monitoring person.

[0004]

However, such a conventional device is for evaluating and managing physical health, and is not considered for evaluating and managing mental health. Therefore, it is not possible to cope with mental disorders such as depression, which is increasing year by year.

Therefore, the present invention evaluates mental health
An object of the present invention is to provide a mental state evaluation device that can be managed.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a mental state evaluation apparatus comprising: a facial expression measuring means for measuring a change in facial expression; a voice measuring means for measuring a voice change; and a body movement measuring means for measuring a body movement. A mental state evaluating means for evaluating a mental state based on the output of each measuring means, and a notifying means for notifying an evaluation result of the mental state evaluating means. With such a configuration, the mental state is evaluated based on the facial expression, voice, and body movement.

More specifically, the expression measuring means includes an imaging camera, and the mental state evaluating means determines a difference between the imaging expression image captured by the imaging camera and a reference expression image registered in advance as a first threshold value. When it is smaller, the mental state is judged to be depressed, and the voice measuring means includes a microphone, and the mental state evaluating means determines that the frequency of the input voice input by the microphone is the frequency of the reference voice registered in advance. When the value is smaller than the second threshold value, the mental state is determined to be depressed. Further, the body movement measuring means includes an acceleration sensor, and the mental state evaluating means determines that the movement amount calculated based on the output of the acceleration sensor is equal to or less than the second threshold. When it is smaller than the threshold value of 3, the mental state is determined to be depressed.

[0008] Further, when the mental state evaluation means determines that the patient is in a severe depression state, there is provided communication means for automatically communicating with a preset contact address. With such a configuration, in the case of severe depression, communication is automatically performed to a preset contact.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A mental state evaluation device according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In this embodiment, FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an external configuration of a mental state evaluation device, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration thereof.

As shown in FIG. 1, a mental state evaluation apparatus according to the present embodiment mainly includes a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a personal computer) 1, a keyboard 2 connected to the personal computer 1, and a display 3.
, A CCD camera 4, a microphone 5, a speaker 6, and an acceleration sensor 7.

The CCD camera 4 is arranged above the display 3 so as to face the user who operates the keyboard 2 with respect to the personal computer 1 to operate the keyboard 2, and the face of the user who looks at the display 3 is imaged. It is input to the personal computer 1.

The microphone 5 is arranged on the display 3 like the CCD camera 4 so as to face the user's face, and the voice uttered by the user is captured and input to the personal computer 1.

The acceleration sensor 7 is attached to the waist of the user using a hook (not shown) for attaching a belt, and accumulates the output generated as the user moves like a pedometer. Recorded. The data recorded in this manner is wirelessly input to the personal computer 1 when the user activates the personal computer 1. For this reason, it is desirable that the user always carries the acceleration sensor 7, whereby data is collected even when the user is not heading to the personal computer 1.

The personal computer 1 has a CCD as shown in FIG.
Expression analysis unit 11 for analyzing the output of camera 4 and microphone 5
, An acceleration analysis unit 13 that receives and analyzes the output of the acceleration sensor 7, and a mental state determination that determines a mental state based on the analysis results of the analysis units 11, 12, and 13. And a unit 14.

The facial expression analysis unit 11 performs an edge extraction process on the image picked up by the CCD camera 4 and then binarizes it to extract a region corresponding to the user's face as facial expression data. This facial expression data is obtained every minute for the captured image input from the CCD camera 4 while the user is at the personal computer 1. When the facial expression data for five minutes is taken into the personal computer 1, the change amount H of the facial expression data is calculated as an index for observing the facial expression change. The amount of change H in the facial expression data can be obtained by the following equation 1, where h (t) is the facial expression data at time t.

[0017]

(Equation 1) Then, the change amount H obtained by Expression 1 is compared with the value α obtained by averaging the change amounts of the facial expression data of the user in the past 10 days, and the comparison result is input to the mental state determination unit 14 and the memory 15 Is stored in Note that these processes are repeated every hour.

The voice analysis unit 12 performs a frequency analysis process on the voice captured by the microphone 5, and then performs
The average frequency F is calculated as audio data. The voice data is input by responding to a question from the personal computer 1 to the user when the personal computer 1 is activated and every hour during operation. At this time, the contents of the question are displayed on the display 3 and output from the speaker 6 by voice.

Then, the obtained average frequency F is compared with a value β of the average frequency previously obtained for the voice in the ordinary conversation, and the result of the comparison is compared with the mental state determination unit 14.
And stored in the memory 15.

Further, in the acceleration analysis unit 13, the personal computer 1
At the time of startup, after the past one day of data stored in the acceleration sensor 7 is wirelessly input to the personal computer 1, the input data is subjected to integration processing twice to calculate the movement amount D. Then, the obtained moving amount D is compared with a value γ obtained by averaging the moving amount of the user in the past 10 days,
The comparison result is input to the mental state determination unit 14 and stored in the memory 15.

In the mental state determination section 14, each analysis section 11,
The mental state of the user is determined based on the outputs 12 and 13. Here, the depression state of the user is determined as the mental state.

First, based on the result of comparison between the change amount H of the expression data input from the expression analysis unit 11 and the average value α of the change amount of the expression data of the user in the past 10 days, the mental state judgment unit 14 determines If the change amount H is larger than the average value α, it is determined that the state is normal. Conversely, if the change amount H is smaller than the average value α, it is determined that there is a possibility of depression. When the mental state determining unit 14 determines that there is a possibility of a depression state,
The built-in counter 14a is incremented by one. Conversely, when it is determined that the counter is normal, the counter 14a is decremented by one.

Similarly, the result of comparison between the average frequency F of the voice data input from the voice analysis unit 12 and the average value β of the frequencies previously obtained for the voice in ordinary conversation is determined by the mental state determination unit 14. In the case, when the average frequency F of the audio data is higher than the average value β, it is determined to be normal, and the counter 14a is decremented by 1. On the contrary, when the average frequency F of the audio data is lower than the average value β, there is a possibility of depression. It is determined, and the counter 14a is incremented by one.

However, the value of the counter 14a is set so as not to be a negative value even if the normal state continues for a long time.

Further, the comparison result between the movement amount D input from the acceleration analysis unit 13 at the time of starting the personal computer 1 and the average value γ of the movement amount in the past 10 days is similarly determined by the mental state determination unit 14. If D is higher than the average value γ, it is determined to be normal, and the built-in counter 14b is set to 0. Conversely, if the movement amount D is lower than the average value γ, it is determined that there is a possibility of depression, and the counter 14b is set to 1 Is set to

Next, the obtained total value S of the counters 14a and 14b is calculated every hour, a depression state is determined, and the total value S is input to the coping method determination unit 16. Here, according to the value of the total value S, the depression state is classified into three levels and determined.

The coping method determining section 16 instructs the following coping according to the level of the user's depressed state.

Level 1 (total value S = 1): Due to mild depression, a person is displayed on the display 3 and a voice requesting the user to talk is output from the speaker 6 as the voice of the person. To change the mood of the elderly.

Level 2 (total value S = 2): Since the depressed state is progressing, an instruction to exercise the user is displayed on the display 3 and the speaker 6 is displayed in order to stop the user's work on the personal computer 1. Output to

Level 3 (total value S = 3): Since there is a suspicion of depression, a predetermined contact address such as a medical institution is automatically communicated via the modem 17. And
At the medical institution or the like that has been notified, counseling or the like is performed by telephone or the like to the user.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
Based on the outputs of the CCD camera 4, the microphone 5, and the acceleration sensor 7, expressionlessness, a decrease in voice tone, and a decrease in the amount of exercise that appear in a depressed state can be evaluated. You can try to prevent depression from progressing. Thereby, the mental health of the user is maintained, and a comfortable life can be achieved.

Further, since it is configured such that a coping method can be instructed according to the level of the depression state, the user can endeavor to eliminate the depression state with reference to this instruction. This allows the user to take appropriate measures without erroneous processing.

When the user's depressed state is so advanced that he or she is suspected of depression, the system is configured to automatically contact a medical institution or the like. In this case, a contact is made to a medical institution or the like as a contact. The user can ask for instructions and counseling, and can take more appropriate measures.

In the present embodiment, the expression, the voice, and the amount of exercise are evaluated by the threshold value, and the evaluation is comprehensively evaluated to classify the depression state. You may divide. In this case, for example, the highest depressed state level among expressions, voices, and exercise amounts, or the average value of each depressed state level, etc., is set as the user's depressed state level.

[0035]

According to the present invention, since the user can evaluate the expressionlessness, the decrease in the tone of the voice, and the decrease in the amount of exercise that appear in the depression state, the user can proceed with the depression state based on the evaluation result. You can try to prevent it. Thereby, the mental health of the user is maintained, and a comfortable life can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an external configuration of a mental state evaluation device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the mental state evaluation device of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Personal computer 11: Expression analysis unit 12: Voice analysis unit 13: Acceleration analysis unit 14: Mental state evaluation unit 15: Memory 16: Handling method determination unit 17: Modem 2: Keyboard 3: Display 4: CCD camera 5: Microphone 6 : Speaker 7: Acceleration sensor

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An expression measuring means for measuring a change of an expression,
Voice measuring means for measuring a change in voice, body motion measuring means for measuring body motion, mental state evaluating means for evaluating a mental state based on an output of each measuring means, and evaluation results of the mental state evaluating means And a notifying means for notifying the mental state. 2. The expression measuring means includes an imaging camera,
The mental state evaluation means determines that the mental state is in a depressed state when a difference between the captured expression image captured by the imaging camera and a reference expression image registered in advance is smaller than a first threshold value. The mental state evaluation device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The sound measuring means includes a microphone, and the mental state evaluating means determines that a frequency of an input sound input by the microphone is lower than a frequency of a pre-registered reference sound by a second threshold or more. 2. The mental state evaluation device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined that the mental state is in a depressed state. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the body movement measuring unit includes an acceleration sensor, and the mental state evaluation unit determines that the mental state is in a depressed state when the amount of movement calculated based on the output of the acceleration sensor is smaller than a third threshold value. The mental state evaluation device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined that the condition is satisfied. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising communication means for automatically communicating with a preset contact when said mental state evaluation means determines that the patient is in a severe depression state. The mental state evaluation device according to any one of the above.